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Monday, February 3, 2014

We by Michael Landweber

Morning, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Michael Landweber's We.

Ben - Benedict - has decided to tackle the stain on the ceiling but after the initial satisfaction of finally attempting to clean said stain, he takes a nasty fall. He's hospitalized and when he wakes up he sees something very strange: a drawing he made of his family when he was a young boy. In fact, the drawing is hanging on a refrigerator in a kitchen he also remembers from his childhood. Ben soon realizes that he is not in control; he is seemingly inside the head of his seven-year-old self. But he'd rather be anywhere in his own life than the year he was seven. The year tragedy struck his family. And what's worse, Ben discovers that this tragedy is only three days away.

Imagine if you will that you have a chance to change something in your past. But, in order to do so you have to convince a younger version of yourself how. This is essentially the premise of We, an interesting twist on the sort of "what if" story.

The best part of Michael Landweber's tale is the way he builds and differentiates between Ben and Binky. They are one and the same, simply from different ages, but they are also two very different characters: Ben has lived over four decades and has the experience and knowledge that comes with that life while Binky is an innocent and naive seven-year-old. Their interaction is what moves the book along and seeing how Ben will approach the challenge he's facing - helping his sister while he's essentially just a voice able to see through the eyes of Binky - makes for an intriguing story as well as one that showcases Landweber's obvious talents as a writer.

We is fairly short and makes for a fast read, which is fortunate as I'd started it just at bedtime. It still didn't keep me from being up pretty late absorbed in the story!

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Michael Landweber, you can visit his website here. You can also like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.